What? A blog??

No! It's not a blog, because then I'd fall into that pool of pretentious and unemployed cranks who, in desperate want of a title, call themselves "bloggers."

No, no dear friends! This is merely a journal, a little tool I can use to share my thoughts with all the friends and family reading this (both of you). There's a boatload of stories that I wish I could get out to all of you, like "the Indy-Jones Whip vs. Rabid Muscovite dogs", the "Crooked Cops and Their Bribe Shake-Downs", or the "Gangs of Russian Sailors Pursuing the Kid Who Stumbled into Black Sea Fleet Territory," etc... lots of stories.

But mostly, it's really nice to get thoughts down, to aid digestion, if you will. I'm keeping a travel journal, sure, but this is a great way to revisit thoughts and sharpen analysis. Surely you all know this is a fairly non-conventional approach to a college career, but every day I'm grateful for the opportunity to do this, and all the friends and family who support me in this regard. A big trip like this carries a tremendous element of duality; the introspection that comes with plenty of time to see, read, and think, vs. the extroversion that results from having to forge new bonds and friendships every few days; the feeling of independence of solo travel, vs. the realization of just how dependent I am on support structures. Anyhow, I'm really loving this excursion, and I'm sure I'll be able to offer a few thoughts along the way.

Anyhow, more of the flowery stuff will come. I suppose it comes from all the old texts I'm tearing through. Slim chances of finding English language bookstores, but alas, the Hostel International book-exchanges provide a wealth of well-traveled classics. Forgive me if I slip into the Quaker 'thees' and 'thous' of Melville.

But I've been seeing some incredible sights, and living the experiences to match. The place where I'm staying in Crimea, Balaklava (and the whole of Sevestapol), was officially off-limits until 1996. Rumor had it this was due to top-secret submarine facilities, which sounded pretty cool, thought I. As it turns out, the whole friggin' thing is right underneath this town, built into a mountainside. Of course, following its declassification in 2003, what do they do? What else, but ship out all of the nuclear warheads and sell tickets! So yeah, exploring this secret sub pen, while listening to the "Hunt for Red October" and "James Bond" soundtracks, was very, very cool.

The rest of this place is mostly monuments to the invasions Russia manages to invite every century or so, and the history in the museums is almost as warped as the history in the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo ("When FDR came into office, he asked his advisors, 'How can we go to war with Japan?' He then took a series of steps to force Japan into a defensive war"). The versions of history presented here always make Russia out as, of course, the innocent peoples caught in the grips of evil (_____ power behind the _______ war). Seriously, what does Russia expect when they sign treaties with a powerful state that runs on an opposing form of governmennt? Of course, we won't apply this model to cozy ties between the U.S. and China while generals in Beijing are jumping up and down shouting "Well, if the U.S. intervenes when we 'reclaim' Taiwan, then we'll just use nuclear weapons." Anyhow, back to Ukraine.

The sunken subs and ships are great for diving, and there are old ruins everywhere. This little town where I'm typing still sports ruins from it's first inhabitants 2500 years ago. And on the agenda, I've gotta see Yalta, or at least the Livida palace next door, where the Big Three decided on how to divide up Europe.

So more to come, if you'll bear with, since I'm certainly no writer. I'll likely throw in a few things that have come up since the onset of this little trek, and of course, plenty of dogmatic world-commentary that people get to make when they sit behind a keyboard. Keep checking http://www.thebackpackersjoint.com for user 'Johnmalc' if I don't get to update this blog, and if you care where I am. I'll try to get some pics up too. Das vidanya.